Boat structure

ABSTRACT

Herein described is a boat structure useful in a dual hull boat arrangement. The dual hulls near the gunwales are spaced apart along the top edge thereof. A rigid structure is disposed between the spaced hull structure. The deck of the boat terminates with a downwardly depending skirt which fits over the spaced hulls and including the rigid structure. The hull, the skirt and the rigid material are then bonded and thereafter screwed together.

Butler mes [54] BOAT STRUCTURE [21] Appl. No; 31,719

[52] U.S.Cl... [51] llntJCi.

[451 Mumuuwm 3,559,221 2/1971 .luhnke ..9/6

Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Carl A. Rutledge Attorney-Robert E. Geauque [57] ABSTRACT Herein described is a boat structure useful in a dual hull boat arrangement. The dual hulls near the gunwales are spaced apart along the top edge thereof. A rigid structure is disposed [58] lField 01 Search ..9/6, 1 between the spaced hull strucwre. The deck of the boat mp minates with a downwardly depending slcirt which fits over the [56] References Cited spaced hulls and including the rigid structure. The hull, the UNITED STATES PATENTS skirt and the rigid material are then bonded and thereafter screwed together. 3,176,055 3/1965 Loos ..9/6 3,531,809 10/1970 Hegg ..9/6 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures i 28 i i ii I 0 PATENTEDMAR 14 I972 INVENTOR. FRANK W. BUTLER ATTORNEY BOAT srnucrnns BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A. Field of the Invention This invention relates to boat structures and more particularly to a novel improvement construction of a boat structure and more particularly to a novel and improved structure in securing the gunwales of a boat hull, for example, to maintain the rigidity along these gunwales and for holding the top deck rigidly to the hulls and the like.

B. Discussion of the Prior Art It has recently been discovered that a dual hull structure of a boat, for example, a pleasure boat, sail boat, or the like, has many advantages and features. First, to construct a boat of this nature, it is much simpler and easier than prior art methods in that each hull can be separately molded in a suitable manner and fitted together to form the desired interior of the boat. For example, the original outside hull may be formed to comprise a single shape while the inner hull is shaped for various reasons to accommodate different structures within the inside of the boat. While this dual hull system has been proven quite useful in the prior art devices, it has been found that difficulty arises especially near the gunwales thereof because of the increased flexibility of the thinness of the two hulls. The dual system, while provided an increased strength, still suffers from the flexibility near the top edge thereof, especially when the top deck is to be firmly afiixed thereto. It has been found that difficulty has also been encountered when the top deck is to be bonded or screwed or otherwise affixed to the gunwales of the hull.

Thus a need has arisen for a boat constructed in such a manner whereby the dual hull system can be employed, the hulls can be relatively thin so that they are light weight in the boat construction, and yet have a certain rigidity across the top of the gunwales thereof so that the top deck of the boat can be firmly affixed thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the described embodiment includes a boat structure which is comprised of a pair of spaced side structures forming the gunwales of the boat hull. The side structures are generally formed of a relatively flexible material, such as fiberglass, or the like. The hulls are spaced along the gunwales to receive a strip of rigid material such as wood which is spaced between the spaced side structure and bonded thereto. The top deck may, for example, include at least one overlapping skirt which extends along the outside of said spaced side structures and are secured to the side structures by a plurality of spaced screws along the outside of the overlapping skirt, the rigid material and the pair of side structures. Thus, there is provided a two-piece hull and a single-piece deck with a piece of wood extending around the top between the two-piece hull to hold the sides and hull together by screws. The wood and the side structures are bonded together at the outset and then become self-sealing as the screws enter through the outside of the overlapping single-piece hull.

An advantage is now seen in that the hull along the top gunwales are extremely rigid so that the top panel and the top deck is securely mounted thereto to a rigid area. As the screws enter the bonding, they are self-sealing and any water that would happen to get into the screw holes would be sealed immediately, especially if the inner section is comprised of wood which would swell due to the dampness. A rail is then placed along the edge covering the screws and a rub rail such, for example, as neoprene or the like, is placed into the rail which then hides the screws from sight and further prevents chipping and nicking of the boat when it encounters another object such as a pier or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taking into consideration the following detailed description wherein like reference numerals indicate like and corresponding parts throughout the several views wherein:

FIG. I is a partial sectional view illustrating the hull of the boat in cross section,

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the gunwales of the hull illustrating the structure in accordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2A is a second embodiment of the structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a top view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the boat hull of FIG. I.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. I a boat I0 including a hull I2 and a top deck 1141. The boat structure is specifically comprised of two hulls or shells, an outer hull I6 and an inner hull 18. In the embodiment described the outer hull I6 is specifically spaced from the inner hull I3 along the entire gunwales of the boat 10. This can be performed by the original molding of the outer hull I6 so that it protrudes out from the inner hull 18. On the other hand, it may be desired in some designs to mold the inner hull I6 so that it protrudes inwardly. But the purpose of this design is to provide the spacing between the hulls I6 and Id. This particular spacing between the hulls I6 and 18 extends along the length of the gunwales from the bow of the boat to the aft of the boat.

To lend rigidity to the gunwales a thin strip of wood is placed between the spaced hulls 11s and 11% near the gunwales along the entire length of the boat. This strip of wood 20), as best shown in FIGS. I and 2, is bonded to the hulls in a suitable manner.

Next the deck I4 is secured to the gunwales to complete the construction of the connection therebetween. The embodiment shown illustrates the deck as having a somewhat U- shaped area whereby the deck It has a right angle upward turn 24 near the inside of the hull I2. A skirt 26 then laps over the gunwales and down the side of outside hull I6. Thus a U- shaped apparatus is provided whereby the dual spaced hulls I6 and I8 and the wood rigid member 20 is fitted neatly into this L-shaped area and provides a clamping effect thereto.

Note it is also possible that the deck I4 as shown in FIG. 2A does not have the extra ridge 24 shown in FIG. 2 but merely has the downward depending skirt 26 which laps over in an L- shape configuration and is secured thereto in the manner to be described.

To secure the skirt 26 to the hulls I6 and I8 and to the rigid structure 20, a screw 28 is screwed into the skirt 26, the hull I6, and into the wood 20. Should any water enter into the wood, it would be quickly sealed by the bonding material and also the wood would tend to swell from the water causing further sealing.

Thus, there has been described a structure for construction of the gunwales of a boat structure which has an added rigidity in its actual structure. The structure is simple to manufacture and yet inexpensive and provides a boat hull which is far superior in rigidity than structures using the thin fiberglass bulls and especially at the gunwale area.

Having thus described one preferred embodiment of this invention, what is claimed is:

I. A boat structure comprising:

a flexible hull comprising an inner structure and an outer structure, said inner and outer structures being located directly adjacent each other throughout the hull except being spaced from each other in the gunwales;

a strip of substantially rigid material being disposed between said inner and outer structures within said gunwales;

a deck being disposed upon said gunwales, said deck having a skirt to overlap a portion of said gunwales; and

fastening means extending through said skirt and said outer structure into said rigid structure.

2. The boat structure as defined in claim 1, including:

said inner and said outer structures being bonded together with such being bonded to said strip.

3. The boat structure as defined in claim 2, wherein:

said deck includes a ridge portion to engage said inner structure 4. The boat structure as defined in claim 3, wherein:

said strip being formed of a wood fibrous material. 5 

1. A boat structure comprising: a flexible hull comprising an inner structure and an outer structure, said inner and outer structures being located directly adjacent each other throughout the hull except being spaced from each other in the gunwales; a strip of substantially rigid material being disposed between said inner and outer structures within said gunwales; a deck being disposed upon said gunwales, said deck having a skirt to overlap a portion of said gunwales; and fastening means extending through said skirt and said outer structure into said rigid structure.
 2. The boat structure as defined in claim 1, including: said inner and said outer structures being bonded together with such being bonded to said strip.
 3. The boat structure as defined in claim 2, wherein: said deck includes a ridge portion to engage said inner structure.
 4. The boat structure as defined in claim 3, wherein: said strip being formed of a wood fibrous material. 